What were you doing at ten years old? Selling lemonade? Kicking cans? Whatever. Unless you were wrestling on WCW Nitro, you have nothing on Reid Flair. The son of the Nature Boy is back, aiming for the top, and he has plenty to talk about as he joins James Guttman on ClubWWI.com for a 35 minute shoot interview about all he’s done, all he’s doing, and all he has planned for the future!
Second generation stars are nothing new, but the path for the son of a legend like Ric Flair is unlike any other. After a childhood that included matches against Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo, Flair is working hard to impress the new generation of fans and get a spot with the big time. Reid discusses everything including his WCW Nitro debut, the storyline premise of it all, advice from his Uncle Arn Anderson, appearing at WWE around Ric’s retirement, and tons more. For a full list of topics, head to: http://www.worldwrestlinginsanity.com/am2/publish/newsnotes/ClubWWI_Reid_Flair.shtml
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One thing that was apparent during James Guttman’s 35 minute interview with Reid Flair was his admiration for his father. Although he’s Ric’s son, Reid doesn’t want a handout and yearns to carve his own place in the business. However, as The Nature Boy’s kid, he knows his father’s respect for his ability isn’t something that’s simply given for the asking. It’s earned. So positive praise from Ric isn’t just lip service, it means a lot. As Reid explains, it’s all he needs.
“If I die and no one remembers me for anything else, as long as I have the respect from my father, that’s enough for me. If I can accomplish 1/1000th of what he has done for this business, at the end of the day, if he says he’s proud of me, that’s enough for me.”
James commends this point of view and mentions how, as a father, he hopes his children have the same admiration for him one day. Guttman then points out how positive personal stories about Ric Flair come up quite a bit from different guests. He asks Reid if the fans truly know his famous dad and whether there are aspects to him that people don’t realize. As the ClubWWI.com interview continues, Reid explains:
“I think the fans know him. They know him from the entertainment aspect of his character, his persona, the Four Horsemen, the wild crew, and stuff like that. But what they don’t know is my dad is probably the hardest working man alive that I know. I mean, look at him right now. He’s still doing stuff with TNA. He’s 52 years old. Yeah, he may go out at night, a couple of nights a week or something like that – not like he did ten to fifteen years ago – but the next morning at six o’clock, he’s in the gym doing his free squats and going over his skills. It’s not like he had to when he was younger. I would compare his skills to a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 10th degree black belt. Guys who follow him know his work ethic. But to the average fan, my only thing to say is my dad is the hardest working guy alive I know. That makes me more proud of him than anything in the world.”
Reid has a lot in common with his father – from his passion for wrestling right down to his choice of valets. Recently, Reid has been accompanied to the ring by Wendy Barlow a.k.a ClubWWI.com audio host “Fifi The Maid” from WCW’s Flair For The Gold. During past editions of Wendy’s “Club For The Gold” audios, she’s spoken about Reid working hard to reestablish himself in the business. James asks Flair about his new push to reach the top and bouncing back from past high-profile missteps that happened when he was signed with WWE a few years back:
“I’ve matured a lot in the last few years. I’ve had to have a change of heart and a complete mental makeover. I had the opportunity to go down to FCW a few years ago and that was just because of who my dad was. Things didn’t work out the way I wanted them to. I ended up getting into some trouble like young kids do. I made some mistakes and learned from them. I want to be where I’m at because of – like you said – the hard work I’ve been putting in. For me, personally, if I don’t go out there through that curtain and know I gave them that 250% then I’m upset with myself. I know that hard work is the key to being successful in this business and it’s not something you can just do half the time or 75% of the time. It’s something you have to do all the time. I know that now.”
Guttman says that everyone makes mistakes when they’re younger, but few get such scrutiny over it. Due to his family ties, Reid’s issues were given headline treatment usually reserved for long time stars. He asks Reid about being under the microscope at such a young age and how it’s another side effect of having a famous dad in wrestling. Flair agrees but as he explains to ClubWWI.com members, it’s something he knew about coming in:
“Right now, I can say that I should have expected that. I knew I had a target on my back. I just wasn’t mature enough to handle the pressure. I was mentally weak. I never had the intention of just being able to make it as a wrestler because of who my father is. I had a real good amateur background so I knew about the hard work it takes to succeed. My philosophy is that if you don’t go to sleep at night knowing you did all you can to reach that next level, then you don’t deserve it.”
Ultimately, Reid’s climb to the top will be met with some roadblocks. While his famous last name may help get his foot in the door, there are some who will use it against him. But as he explains during the ClubWWI discussion, he’s learned to feed off of that negative energy and turn it into something positive:
“Everybody wants to be that top guy. So, yeah, I’m sure there’re a lot of people out there who would love to see me fail. They’d love to see me not succeed. What I try to do is turn that negative energy into motivation. I look at it as a positive because not too many people have that situation.”
There’s tons more to Reid Flair’s 35 minute interview and you can hear it all right now, along with hundreds of other stars the second you sign up on ClubWWI.com including Jesse Ventura, Jerry Lawler, Eric Bischoff, Mae Young, and others. Also, be sure to check Reid out on Facebook and at any upcoming shows in your area.
